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A corny story. Part II

Deming Headlight

Posted:
08/22/2013 08:36:06 PM MDT

During the American revoluntionary war, soldiers under George Washington discovered a yellow corn that was higher in sugar but, unfortunately, lower in beneficial nutrients. Like present day humans, most were controlled by their taste buds and sweeter corn took the place of healthier corn. Although less healthful than the Indian corn, it was still much higher in nutritional values than present hybridized, GMO varieties.

During the 1830's a "gentleman farmer" from Connecticut hybridized an even sweeter, whiter corn. As was stated in last week's article, colors represent nutritients and along with the color went a large part of the remaining nutrients. His reason was, "to get rid of the awful yellowness." More than likely, he was a sugar junkie. But, even that corn wasn't sweet enough.

Beginning in the 1920s, plant geneticists exposed corn seeds to radiation to learn more about the normal arrangement of plant genes. They mutated seeds by exposing them to x-rays, cobalt radiation, and toxic compounds. They also exposed them to genotoxins that damaged the DNA. Those same genotoxins are now considered carcinogenic.

In the 1940s, atom bombs were the new thing and scientists began blasting corn with atomic radiation. The irradiated kernels were placed in a seed bank and made available for research.

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In 1959, a geneticist named John Laughnan began to study a handful of the "mutant," irradiated kernels. Lab tests showed that they were up to 10 times sweeter than ordinary sweet corn. He put a few in his mouth, loved their intense sweetness and, reconizing humans insatiable taste for sugar, saw a business opportunity. It was theorized the atomic radiation had either turned on the gene that makes sugar or poisoned the genes that make nutrients.

Laughnan's ultra-sweet, mutant corn changed the corn industry. Laughnan gave up science, developed commercial varieties of "super-sweet" corn and began selling his first hybrids in 1961. The was the first genetically modified food to enter the U.S. food supply. Within one generation, because we're a nation of sugar addicts, these new extra sweet, "candy corn" varieties outsold all other varieties of sweet corn. Then, biotech added their twist and now we have corn with very little or no nutritional value with toxic substances like Bt as an added bonus.

Most of the fresh corn available in supermarkets is the super-sweet variety with the the sweetest varieties approaching 40 percent sugar. Deplete of most nutrients, the kernels are either white, pale yellow, or a combination of the two.

When you shop for fresh corn on the cob, look for organic varieties with the deepest color. Corn with deep yellow kernels can have up to 60 times more carotenoids than the sweet white corns. And, if it's labeled organic, you won't have to worry about toxic substances like bacillus thuringiensis (Bt).

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